Pantech Marauder User Manual page 174

3. What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?
The term "wireless phone" refers here to hand-held wireless phones with
built-in antennas, often called "cell, " "mobile, " or "PCS" phones. These types of
wireless phones can expose the user to measurable radiofrequency energy
(RF) because of the short distance between the phone and the user's head.
These RF exposures are limited by Federal Communications Commission
safety guidelines that were developed with the advice of FDA and other
federal health and safety agencies. When the phone is located at greater
distances from the user, the exposure to RF is drastically lower because a
person's RF exposure decreases rapidly with increasing distance from the
source. The so-called "cordless phones, " which have a base unit connected
to the telephone wiring in a house, typically operate at far lower power
levels, and thus produce RF exposures far below the FCC safety limits.
4. What are the results of the research done already?
The research done thus far has produced conflicting results, and many
studies have suffered from flaws in their research methods. Animal
experiments investigating the effects of radiofrequency energy (RF)
exposures characteristic of wireless phones have yielded conflicting
results that often cannot be repeated in other laboratories. A few animal
studies, however, have suggested that low levels of RF could accelerate
the development of cancer in laboratory animals. However, many of the
studies that showed increased tumor development used animals that had
been genetically engineered or treated with cancer-causing chemicals
so as to be predisposed to develop cancer in the absence of RF exposure.
Other studies exposed the animals to RF for up to 22 hours per day.
These conditions are not similar to the conditions under which people
use wireless phones, so we don't know with certainty what the results of
such studies mean for human health. Three large epidemiology studies
have been published since December 2000. Between them, the studies
investigated any possible association between the use of wireless phones
and primary brain cancer, glioma, meningioma, or acoustic neu-roma,
tumors of the brain or salivary gland, leukemia, or other cancers. None of
the studies demonstrated the existence of any harmful health effects from
wireless phone RF exposures. However, none of the studies can answer
questions about long-term exposures, since the average period of phone
use in these studies was around three years.
5. What research is needed to decide whether RF exposure
from wireless phones poses a health risk?
A combination of laboratory studies and epidemiological studies of
people actually using wireless phones would provide some of the data
that are needed. Lifetime animal exposure studies could be completed
in a few years. However, very large numbers of animals would be needed
to provide reliable proof of a cancer promoting effect if one exists.
Epidemiological studies can provide data that is directly applicable to
human populations, but 10 or more years' follow-up may be needed to
provide answers about some health effects, such as cancer. This is because
the interval between the time of exposure to a cancer-causing agent
and the time tumors develop - if they do -may be many, many years. The
interpretation of epidemiological studies is hampered by difficulties in
measuring actual RF exposure during day-to-day use of wireless phones.
Many factors affect this measurement, such as the angle at which the
phone is held, or which model of phone is used.
6. What is FDA doing to find out more about the possible
health effects of wireless phone RF?
FDA is working with the U.S. National Toxicology Program and with
groups of investigators around the world to ensure that high priority
animal studies are conducted to address important questions about the
effects of exposure to radiofrequency energy (RF). FDA has been a leading
participant in the World Health Organization International Electromagnetic
Fields (EMF) Project since its inception in 1996 An influential result of this
work has been the development of a detailed agenda of research needs
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